Women Breaking Barriers: Fearless Fund Sued Over Grant Programs

Aug 05, 2023

Woman featured in Women Breaking Barriers now finds herself in the middle of a high-profile legal battle.

Woman featured in Women Breaking Barriers now finds herself in the middle of a high-profile legal battle.

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Woman featured in Women Breaking Barriers now finds herself in the middle of a high-profile legal battle.

One of the women featured in WVTM 13's Women Breaking Barriers now finds herself in the middle of a high-profile legal battle, and it's one attorneys say could have a ripple effect on financial programs geared toward helping women and minorities.

In April, WVTM 13 News viewers were introduced to Arian Simone. She is president and CEO of Fearless Fund, which helps women of color secure funding for their businesses. Now her company is the target of a lawsuit claiming its grant programs are racially discriminatory.

A conservative nonprofit group 'the American Alliance for Equal Rights' filed suit against Fearless Fund, saying it violates a section of civil rights law dating back to 1866 prohibiting racial discrimination in contracts because one of its grant programs is specifically for Black women. The group is backed by the conservative activist behind the U.S. Supreme Court Cases leading to the dismantling of race-based college admission programs earlier this year.

Fearless Fund has enlisted a high-profile legal team that includes noted civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. Fearless Fund co-founder Ayana Parsons says the suit won't hinder Fearless Fund's efforts to support women-led businesses.

"Activism is in our DNA,” Parsons said. “We could not sit on the sidelines and watch idly by as Black and brown women are under attack. We know that women such as ourselves have been overlooked. We've been marginalized. We've been underfunded and unsupported."

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Fearless Fund is based in Atlanta but has sponsored opportunities for women in Birmingham. While it has programs backed by major companies like J.P. Morgan Chase.

“I’m a daughter of a civil rights attorney and entertainment attorney who represented Rosa Parks. I grew up around Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, and Anita Abernathy,” Simone said. “Activism is in our DNA. I'm a daughter of a mother who won the largest discrimination case in the state of Michigan. Activism is in our DNA. I have led protests for justice against discrimination in my elementary school as a 10-year-old. Activism is in our DNA. We are not scared. We are fearless.”

Legal experts say this lawsuit could also be a test case for challenging racial consideration in the workplace.